Hi Future Self, it’s me!As some of you know, I have been experimenting with several strategies recently in an effort to reduce the stress and anxiety I am experiencing at my job this year. One of the students I work with that was a trigger for some of what I am trying to deal with recently left for a few weeks. His family did not reach out to me so I had no way of knowing if this was a permanent move or if he would be coming back. I will not lie to you when I say that while he was gone things were much better in my classroom. However, the anxiety I felt each morning as I waited for him to come walking back down the hallway was itself starting to get to me. That did not last lone. About a week ago he came back. To say I was not surprised would be an understatement. I must say though that my anxiety has gone down since he’s been back. I think that is because I know now (at least I think I know) that I will need to make our relationship work for the rest of the year on some level so that we are both getting what we need each day.Just days before our Thanksgiving break our school was visited by our regional superintendent. She, along with our principal did what we call in the trade a series of “walkthroughs.” A walkthrough is when a team of people come to your classroom to see if what you have written in your plans is actually being taught. Well...that can produce a bit of stress even when you are person that “dots his I’s” and “crosses his T’s” like me.So...how have I been dealing with these things? Well...one way has been to think positively for my future self, yes my future self. I have been curious about this whole concept of 3 selves for quite some time. I was first made aware of it while listening to one of my favorite podcasts Roderick On The Line. Basically, we have 3 selves, our past self, our present self, and our future self. One thing I try really hard to do is take care of my future self. Two ways I do this include setting up things for breakfast before I go to bed and making sure my lunch is all made and ready to pack the next morning. Another way I’ve started to think about my future self is digitally. I have found an app called HiFutureSelf. It’s an app that you can use to send yourself messages in the future. Each weekend, I sit and plan out short, positive messages to send to myself for the coming week. The app is so cool! You can pick the day and time you get the messages. I send my messages at odd times, like 7:07 am or 8:33 am. I do this so I’m not looking for them at easy times like the top or bottom of the hour. I send myself about 2 per day...one before my students come into the classroom and one I will get while I’m in a morning planning meeting. The messages serve as a nice pause in what can become a hectic morning...if I let it.